As marketers we are all aware by now that in 2015 mobile internet usage officially surpassed desktop internet usage. That, combined with Google’s Mobile Friendly Update in April last year, meant that 2015 was a massive year for mobile traffic!

That is all old news by now, but have you acted upon it? Are you aware of the behaviour of your mobile website visitors versus your desktop website visitors? If you’re not….then you should start now!

As an agency, we spend a lot of time analysing the mobile traffic of various websites. There is one trend in particular that we are noticing a lot with new clients coming to us looking for help increasing their online sales or conversions:

**Mobile traffic is dramatically surpassing desktop traffic….however the actual sales or conversions coming from mobile are incredibly low**

Now we are not suggesting that you can always reach the same level of sales or conversions on mobile that you would on desktop. Of course you have to remember that a lot of research is done on mobiles, which may lead your customer to purchase at a later time via desktop. However, let me give you an example of a recent real-life ecommerce website.

For 2016 so far, their website traffic breakdown by device has looked like this:

mobile-traffic

But if you look at their online revenue by device you see the following results:

mobile-transactions

At a quick glance you can see that majority of traffic is coming from mobile, however only a tiny 6% of revenue is made from mobile. So what does this tell us?

  1. The majority of people are using mobile to search for the products that they sell
  2. The majority of people who land on their website come from mobile
  3. People using mobiles to browse the website are not being compelled to make a purchase
  4. This client is missing out on a massive potential from their mobile users

If these stats look similar to yours, then action needs to be taken. Even if your website is mobile responsive, that is not enough. Here are some of our top tips on how to increase conversions from your mobile visitors:

1) User Experience

Keep in mind that people visiting your website from a mobile device are most likely either using it on the go (maybe while on their morning commute to work) or while their attention is potentially focused elsewhere (while they are watching TV perhaps). You have mere seconds to capture them, so make sure your mobile website is seamless, easy-to-use and grabs people’s attention.

  • Have a mobile optimised site
  • Keep the menu navigation simple. Feature pages that are most important for mobile users
  • Include clear Calls to Action such as Buy Now buttons
  • CTA’s should be at or near the top as people are less likely to scroll on a mobile
  • Cut down on content (mobile users are on the go and don’t have time to read!)
  • If your customers need to fill out a form, make that form short and simple

2) Social Sharing

The power of social is huge! 90% of Facebook users (thenextweb.com, 2016) and 80% of Twitter users visit the sites from a mobile device (Statista.com, 2015). No matter what your brand or company is, you need to have an active social presence.

social-sharing

Particularly for ecommerce websites, encouraging customers to participate and share socially is vital. Here are some things you can do:

  • Add a Shop Now button to your social networks that links directly to your website
  • Add social share buttons to your product pages
  • Make sure your sharing widget is mobile responsive
  • Engage in some paid promotion across social channels and test the results
  • Develop a content strategy specifically with mobile in mind

3) Optimise Your Google Ads for Mobile

We see many clients making the mistake of not having ads optimised for mobile in their AdWords campaigns. At the very least you should be creating mobile specific ads. But what else can you do to make your ads stand out for mobile users?

  • Don’t include a description on your mobile sitelink extensions like you would do for desktop extensions. Remember that the space is a lot smaller on mobile devices and having descriptions on sitelinks could take up too much space and mean that other extensions might not get shown
  • If phone calls are important for your business, create Call Only ads. These were introduced by Google in 2015 so that businesses who value calls more than website clicks can create ads that are specifically designed for this goal

google-mobile-ad

  • Perhaps give customers an extra incentive to shop from their mobile. In your mobile ads, give them a special offer such as “get 10% Off when you shop from your mobile”
  • Link your mobile ads to mobile optimised landing pages

Of course all of these are just the tip of the iceberg. The importance of mobile cannot be underestimated and the possibilities are endless. If you are struggling, give our experts a call on 01 288 5118 or get in touch by filling in a contact form and see how we can help you today.